Narendra Modi led BJP government's decision to sign an MoU with Balmis group to maintain Red Fort has not gone down well with the Opposition parties like Congress, which alleged that PM Modi was preparing to 'mortgage' India's heritage to private corporate entities.

When Chetan Bhagat took a stand on the Red Fort issue, stating that ‘It’s an innovative way to save the government some money and preserve a monument,’, a Congress MLA took a dig at him. (Source: File Photo)

The Narendra Modi-led Central government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dalmia Bharat Limited, a private company, to maintain the historic Red Fort in Delhi under the ‘Adopt a Heritage’ project. According to the government, the agreement was signed to maintain the monument and build basic infrastructure including clean drinking water, toilets, signage, furniture-like benches, etc. to the visitors for Rs 25 crores in the next five years. The decision, however, has not gone down well with the Opposition parties like Congress, which alleged that PM Modi was preparing to “mortgage” India’s heritage to private corporate entities. Defending the government, author Chetan Bhagat tweeted, “It’s an innovative way to save the government some money and preserve a monument.” However, Alpesh Thakor, Congress MLA from Radhanpur in Gujarat, took a dig at Bhagat by calling him “Modi ke bhagat”.

Bhagat did not take the snide remark lying low and took to the micro-blogging site to clarify his stand.

Starting his tweet with a metaphorical example, Bhagat tweeted: “If you hire someone to clean your house doesn’t mean you are selling your house to them. No, Red Fort is not being sold. It’s an innovative way to save the government some money and preserve a monument. #redfort”. To this , Thakor responded by calling him ‘a sycophant of PM Modi’. Bhagat clarified, as translated from Hindi, like this: “Sir, god has given me some brains, which is why I maintain my opinion. I have spoken against the government’s decisions too, at times. Please don’t say such things that don’t look good on you.”

If you hire someone to clean your house doesn’t mean you are selling your house to them. No, Red Fort is not being sold. It’s an innovative way to save the government some money and preserve a monument. #redfort

The exchange between Bhagat and Thakor doesn’t stop there. While Thakor goes on to remark on how Bhagat praises the government and on April 1 jokes about joining the Congress, the ‘2 States’ author asserted that his tweets and columns are evidence of how he calls out the BJP government as well.